First English has support ministries in many areas.
Adoption Support: People who are considering adoption, are in the process of adopting, or are parents with adopted children are invited to join the Adoption Support Group group that meets at 6:30 p.m.on the fourth Wednesday of each month in the North Site Gathering Area. Our mission is to provide parent-to-parent support and encouragement before, during and after the adoption process.
Contact information: E-mail felcadoptionsupport@hotmail.com or call the First English Lutheran Church office at 920-733-2303.
Altar Flowers Sign Up: FELC is pleased to have a local floral designer create the altar flowers that are arranged in honor of or in memory of a loved one. The cost is $50. At the Downtown Site, please sign up on the special Altar Flower calendar and send your payment to the church office. For the North Site, please contact Kristy Howard in the church office and send your payment to the church office. Wedding couples are welcome to leave altar flowers behind if they so wish. Just sign up on the calendar and let the church office know that they are arrangements from a weekend wedding.
Staff contact: Kristy Howard.
Communion Ministry to Home-bound Members: This ministry often works in conjunction with the Special Friends program. After volunteers receive training on offering communion, they are matched with a home-bound member. Volunteers pick up a communion kit from the altar on the third Sunday of each month and visit the home-bound member to share communion with them. When the volunteers visit our members and share conversation or bring them the bread and wine, they actually are giving them the body and blood of Christ - the greatest gift of all. A bond forms and the peace that only Christ can give is evident. Please consider joining this rewarding ministry.
Staff contact: Anita Damon.
Fellowship Events: Throughout the year a number of fellowship opportunities are available. Go to the Happenings tab, or view the Forms page to see the current events.
Staff contact: Jean Monson
Food, Faith and Fellowship: Food, Faith and Fellowship is a fellowship meal that is a perfect opportunity for you to get to know other members of First English and enjoy some wonderful fellowship. To participate, all you have to do is show up with an appetite, a dish to pass and a willingness to meet others. For the next 3 month schedule, hosts will be assigned and asked to contact the others on their list to meet sometime within a 3 month window [Sept/Oct/Nov]. You might think you need formal china or a larger home to host, we assure you that paper plates and a barbecue are just fine and meeting for Sunday brunch is growing more and more popular.
If you'd like to participate in this wonderful fellowship opportunity, register here. If you have already registered in 2011, you will automatically be included on the next schedule; this is only for those who wish to be added to the schedule.
Questions? Contact Traci Diehl at tjdiehl@new.rr.com or 757-6176.
Prayer Chain: In Need of Prayer? Let us know and we will include you in the prayers of many. For additions to the prayer chain call Annette Ford, 749-0757; Lorraine Moore, 749-0058; or Esther Pask, 739-6978 or email Anita Damon.
Prayer Shawl: Prayer Shawls are knit or crocheted by First English Lutheran members and are presented as a blessing from the congregation to those individuals in need of prayer. This may include people who are experiencing grief, serious illness or other difficult circumstances.Distributed by either a pastor or a Prayer Shawl ministry member, shawls have received a group blessing prior to leaving the church and given a handwritten card and prayer to accompany the shawl. Many prayers and blessings are knit into every shawl. Any pattern is acceptable but a basic pattern is offered in this brochure. Before you start or as you are knitting or crocheting, remember to weave prayers into the shawl. Pray for the person by name if you know it. Ask for God to provide healing of body, mind and spirit. Pray for the love of Jesus to surround the shawl recipient. Click here for more information and patterns.
Staff contact: Donna Haberland.
Special Friends: The Special Friends program is a caring ministry of love and friendship that responds to the needs of home-bound members of FELC. The church staff assist in matching a volunteer with a Special Friend, who is a home-bound member. Ideally, the volunteer makes a visit to their Special Friend’s home each month or makes a connection by calling them. Visitors are touched by the faith, wisdom and knowledge of our elders and home-bound as they keep our church family connected through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Staff contact: Anita Damon.
Spiritual Care Card Ministry (SCCM): This ministry connects FELC Spiritual Care Card Ministers (SCCM’s) with assigned FELC card receivers. For example, card senders send mail to their assigned household during special occasions and concerns in their lives. Greetings such as “Happy Birthday,” or “Happy Anniversary” plus other occasions such as births, baptisms and confirmation are always warmly received. Words of encouragement can be sent during special circumstances such as a death in the family, health crisis and special requests from the pastoral staff.
The Congregational Life Ministry Team encourages FELC members and families to consider being part of this ministry. Volunteers can be individuals, couples or families. Please volunteer as a card sender or a card receiver and send questions to the staff contact.
Staff contact: Anita Damon.
Stephen Ministry: We are in our first year as a Stephen Ministry Congregation, and will be graduating our first class of Stephen Ministers in 2012. The Stephen Series provides congregations with the structure, training, and resources to set up and administer a complete system for lay caring ministry (called Stephen Ministry) in the congregation. In Stephen Ministry congregations, lay caregivers (called Stephen Ministers) provide one-to-one Christian care to the bereaved, hospitalized, terminally ill, separated, divorced, unemployed, relocated, and others facing a crisis or life challenge. Stephen Ministry helps pastors and congregations provide quality caring ministry for as long as people need it. Interested? Please download a Stephen Minister application.
Staff contact: Pastor Mary Bauer.
TV Ministry: The Downtown Site 8 a.m. worship service is broadcast on Sundays at 11 a.m. on Channel 4 (one week delay). To sponsor a Sunday service, sign up on the calendar on the bulletin board at the Downtown Site. Indicate if you are sponsoring it in honor or in memory of a person or occasion. The cost is $20.
Staff contact: Kristy Howard.
Your Day on the Mission Field Sign Up: Your day on the Mission Field program allows members to support Evangelical Lutheran Church in America missionaries by sponsoring a day in honor or in memory of a loved one. If you would like to sponsor a day in honor of an individual or event, a sign up calendar is in the Gathering Area. Cost is $20. Please sign up and submit your payment to the church office.
Staff contact: Kristy Howard.
